Astronomy

2011-11-02T05:58:00.000-07:00

The Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula in the constellation Orion. It is in the lower portion of Orion south of his belt. This object can be seen with the naked eye. It is part of Orion's sword and looks very fuzzy with the naked eye. Located 1500 light years away, the stars have formed from collapsing clouds of interstellar gas within the last million years.

2-min exposure. Total exposure time was 40 minutes.

Imaged at Zodiac Ranch near Fort Davis, TX in the early morning hours of October 30, 2011.

The Orion constellation is a dominant constellation during the winter season.

M81 Group

2011-10-31T19:45:00.000-07:00

M81 group is a group of galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major (Big Dipper area) that includes both M81 and M82. M81 is on the right and M82 is the smaller one to the left. Approximately 12 million light years away. NGC 3077 is a smaller fainer galaxy in the lower right hand corner.

Imaged on October 30, 2011 from the Zodiac Ranch near Fort Davis, TX.

2-min exposure. Total exposure time, 22 minutes.

Messier 74

2011-10-31T19:27:00.000-07:00

Messier 74 is a face on spiral galaxy located in the constellation Pisces. Approximately 30 million light years away.

Imaged at Zodiac Ranch near Fort Davis, TX on October 30, 2011. 2-min exposure. Total exposure time was 44 min.

Captured using a QHY8 CCD color camera and autoguided using an Orion Star Shoot autoguider piggybacked on a Celestron 11" SCT.

Jupiter

2011-10-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

Our largest planet in the solar system is very close to Earth this time of year and is about to be at opposition. This is the brightest object in the sky other than the moon (for the time being anyway).

This image was aquired with a Phillips TouCam webcam. It was taken at 10 frames per second for 3 minutes. That's a total of 1800 frames. Frames were stacked using software for the final result.

On some nights, you can see it's four main moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) cast a shadow on the planet as they orbit the planet with an 8" or larger telescope.

Image was taken around midnight on September 30, 2011 from my back yard in Midland, TX. Clear skies with excellent seeing and transparent skies. Some light pollution. Used without filters and guided.

Mars in the Beehive Cluster

2011-10-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

Two images at once! The planet Mars entered into the Beehive Cluster (M44). Although M44 is 580 light years away, Mars is a mere 168 million miles (approximately).

M44 is an open cluster in the constellation of Cancer (the Crab)

NGC 253 Sculptor Galaxy

2011-09-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

Sculptor Galaxy is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. It is a mere 10 million light years away and spans about 70 thousand lights year. NGC 253 was discovered by Caroline Herschel in the 1783.

Imaged at Zodiac Ranch, Fort Davis, TX on September 24, 2011 under excellent seeing conditions with an 11" Celestron HD (hyperstar)

5 min exposure X 15 images (total time of 75min exposure time). Captured using Nebulosity software and stacked with darks for the final result.

M45, Pleiades cluster

2011-09-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

The Pleiades. The cluster is also called The Seven Sisters, where the sisters are seven of the brightest stars in the cluster. The two bright stars to the left in the cluster are the parents, Atlas and Pleione, hence also the more common name Pleiades (the children of Pleione). The seven sisters are Alcyone, Merope, Electra, Maia, Celaeno, Taygeta and Asterope (Messier45.com)

Several Pleiads appear surrounded by intricate blue filaments of light. This nebulosity is the result of starlight scattering (reflecting) off minute grains of interstellar dust in the vicinity. The dust particles are inside a cloud of mostly hydrogen gas that the cluster seems to be plowing into (Steven Gibson, www.naic.edu/~gibson/pleiades/)

This was a 20 minute exposure, guided and captured in the early morning of September 25, 2011 from Zodiac Ranch in Fort Davis, TX.

The sky was perfectly still with excellent transparency and great seeing.

NGC 7293, Helix Nebula (Eye of God)

2011-08-29T12:54:00.001-07:00

NGC 7293 is commonly called the "Eye of God" do to it's distinctive shape. The Helix Nebula is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius and discovered in the early 1800's. About 700 light years away. This image was taken near Fort Davis, TX on August 28, 2011 around 2am. It is a 5 min exposure. Total capture time was 125 minutes using a Celestron C11 HD and autoguided.

M33, Triangulum Galaxy

2011-08-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

3 million light years away, the Triangulum galaxy lies in the constellation Triangulum. This image was taken in Fort Davis, TX in the early morning hours on August 28, 2011. 5-min exposure, exposed for over two hours duration.

2011-07-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

2011-07-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

Messier (M27) is a planetary nebula. Also commonly called the dumbbell nebula since it has the shape of a dumbbell. It is in the constellation Velpecula and is approximately 1300 light years away. It is a favorite summer time image since it lies in the summer triangle ( made up of three stars named Altair, Deneb, and Vega).
This image was taken in the early morning around 1am in my backyard in Midland, TX on July 29th, 2011. I used a light pollution filter and this image is at F2 with a QHY8 CCD camera and a Hyperstar. I used my 11" Celestron HD as my imaging platform.
A 5min exposure stacked with 10 images for the final result.
Click on the image for zooming.

Whirlpool Galaxy

2011-06-05T16:10:00.001-07:00

This is my favorite object to image. I spend a lot of time trying to make this image better and better every time.

M51, designated the Whirlpool galaxy is 37 million light years from Earth.

Taken at Zodiac Ranch, June 2, 2011.

Equipment:
Celestron 11" HD w/ hyperstar, QHY8 CCD camera. 8-min exposure.

I actually had to cut the number of exposures do to some clouds that spoiled my last 5 images.

Leo Trio

2011-06-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

The Leo Trio is a group of galaxies approximately 30 million light years from Earth. They lie in the constellation Leo the Lion. Their strong gravitational pull from one another distorts their shapes. This trio makes a great photograph. This image is an 8-min exposure.

Equipment:
Celestron 11" HD w/hyperstar and a QHY8 CCD camera. Captured with Nebulosity with a total of 12 images stacked for a final result.

Taken at Zodiac Ranch, Fort Davis, TX on June 1, 2011.

M101 with neighbors

2011-05-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

M101, Pinwheel Galaxy and neighboring galaxies. To the left of M101, we have NGC 5474. Notice other smaller fainter galaxies in the field of view. This image is a 5min exposure. Total exposure time is 50 minutes. Processed with stacking software. No flats, but stacked with darks to get rid of some hot pixels. Need to try some flats to get rid of some vignetting. This image was taken on May 29, 2011 at around 3am at Zodiac Ranch, Fort Davis, Texas. M101 is found in the constellation Ursa Major. Check out my previous posts of another image of this object.

NGC 4298 / 4203

2011-04-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

A pairing of spiral galaxies about 60 million light years away. Both NGC 4298 and NGC 4203 are located in the constellation Coma Berenices. This image was taken in Fort Davis, TX and is a 5-min exposure for a total of two hours total exposure time.

2011-04-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face on spiral galaxy about 25 million light years away. The objects light took 25 million years to reach my telescope. Impressive to say the least. The Pinwheel Galaxy, designated Messier 101 is in the constellation Ursa Major. M101 has a diameter of 170,000 light years and is larger than our own Milky Way Galaxy. This image is a 5-min exposure exposed for 100 minutes. Used 20 images and stacked and processed them to come up with a final result.

This image was taken in Fort Davis on April 1, 2011 at Zodiac Ranch where a friend of mine has his private observatory under the dark skies of southwest Texas.

Owl Nebula (M97)

2011-03-28T20:46:00.001-07:00

This is a back yard image from my home in Midland, TX. This was taken on March 27, 2011. It is a 4 min exposure with a total of 30 exposures. Exposed for two hours with the images stacked and processed to get the greatest images. I used a light pollution filter (no surprise here) and the sky was clear with a hazy sky with some dust in the air. Seeing was average and transparency was good over all.

M97 or the Owl Nebula is a planetary nebula around 2600 light years from Earth. It is located in the constellation Ursa Major (or near the Big Dipper). Not surprisingly, the Owl Nebula gets its name for it's round shape and dark areas making it appear like the face of an Owl. To see the two dark areas in the object, you will need at least an 8" telescope.

2011-03-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

NGC 2841 is in the constellation Ursa Major (Big Dipper). It is an amazing 46 million light years away.

The image is a 5-min exposure for 150 minutes. A total of 30 exposures stacked and processed.

Brody and the scope

2011-03-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

My four-year old son Brody loves the stars. We go to Fort Davis a lot and he loves being out doors. This is a picture taken in February in my back yard in Midland, TX.

M98

2011-03-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

This was a 5-min exposure with a number of 30 exposures totaling 150-minutes total time exposed. I used a program called Nebulosity to capture, stack, and process 30 frames including 30 dark frames. This is a guided image using a Celestron 11" HD and CGE Pro Mount, piggybacking with a Orion 80 refractor using an Orion autoguider.
You see some detail in the galaxy, but I'm still a novice and post processing with different programs like Photoshop. Seeing conditions, transparency, and other variables affect the image including other atmospheric conditions (I'm not in space, I have to look through the Earth's atmosphere). There are several galaxies in the same location as M98. M98 is in the constellation Coma Berenecies and is a spiral galaxy about 60 million light years away.

New scope.....11" Edge HD by Celestron

2011-01-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

After debating, which seemed like an eternity on what scope to decide to get, I finally made my decision which will cost me more, but fullfill my wants and needs. I placed an order on a brand new Meade 12" LX200ACF with Meades rebate package of a free solor scope. It sounded great and I thought I made my decision. But I wanted to do more with astrophotography, and I was limited on the capabilities of the Meade SCT. I didn't like the wedge anymore, and I wanted a German Equatorial Mount (GEM). Also I was weighing in on the manufacturer warranty. Meade had a one year warranty. Anyway, I decided to go with Celestron on its high definition scope series called the Edge HD. I broke down after doing a lot of research and found the 11" Edge HD with the CGE Pro mount. It has a two-year warranty and the high tech GEM with HD optics suited well for astrophotography (so it says right). I made the purchase after looking at the high cost and I knew what I wanted. Why spend so much on it? It's a deserving gift to myself and it's not a purchase I make very often. I knew I could afford it right? I finally received it on January 10, 2011 and set it up in my living room in awe. I couldn't believe how massive and heavy this thing was. It's built like a tank and the go-to motors are in working condition. Things are a little different with my Celestron. I am so used to being a Meade person. Time to get used to being a Celestron person. It will be different, but it should be fun. Looking forward to buying extra accessories like the Hyperstar 3 for fast exposures.

2010-12-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

Oh yes, I was one of the fortunate ones with some clear skies to enjoy this spectacular lunar eclipse on the first night of winter. Watched it from my friends back yard in Midland, TX and took some nice images. Had a great time under the stars. The image on the left was a wide field image taken with my Canon Rebel. It is a 1 second exposure. The larger picture is taken through a 12" scope.

NGC 6070

2010-08-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

About 118 million light years away, NGC 6070 has many faint galaxies in the field of view. Some being so dim, I need a larger aperature scope. This was a 7 minute exposure, exposed for 75 minutes.

NGC 5982, 5981, 5985

2010-08-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

Commonly known as the "Draco Trio", NGC 5985 (right), 5982 (left), and 5981 (center) are about 100 million light years away in the constellation Draco the Dragon.

Ring Nebula (M57)

2010-06-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

The Ring Nebula is one of the most interesting planetary nebula. Called M57, it is 2300 light years from us. It is in the constellation Lyra, next to the star VEGA, and is a favorite object for late spring and summer viewing. It is hard to see through a scope smaller than 12", however a 3" scope can make out the ring structure. For more information and a Hubble view of M57, go to http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/entire/pr1999001a/

Planet transits

2010-06-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

This is a rare opportunity, but again you can use your scope during the day to look at either Venus or Mercury cross the face of the sun. This is called a planet transit. These are the only planets that do this do to our planets position in the solar system. Click on the image and you will see a very tiny dot near the lower portion of the sun. It is a black dot. This is Venus. Also, near the top is a sunspot. This image was taken by a friend (Earl Grayson). Thanks Earl.

Sun viewing

2010-06-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

A lot of people don't know that you can use your telescope during the daytime to look at the sun. Now I caution you........Do not look at the sun through your scope without a protective filter. You will ruin your eyes.

Attach a solar filter to your optical tube and you can see some amazing things on our nearst star. There are many different types, but the simple ones are cheap. Sunspots are great to see, but lately our sun is void of these. One day they will return

Milky Way

2010-06-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

It is almost a new moon again when it's the best time to get out and look at the West Texas skies. We truly are blessed in West Texas to have amazing skies (away from the cities of course). I'm headed back down to Fort Davis again on June 10 to do some more astrophotography. I'm hoping for clear skies. I need to do some more wide field images of the Milky Way as the core rises in the southeast. If you are fortunate enough to see this magnificant site, then I highly recommend it.
Unfortunately not too many people get to see this site in urban areas where lights block out the Milky Way. 2/3 of the U.S. population cannot see the Milky Way anymore do to light pollution. I'm very blessed to have a place where I can see this awesome site.

M51 TSP 2010

2010-05-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

I know I have posted this before about the same picture. But I thought this was a better picture of M51. Taken with a QHY8 CCD. It is a 5 minute exposure. 12 images stacked to get the best picture. Processed with Photoshop. This is the most well known spiral galaxy.

Texas Star Party 2010

2010-05-09T16:16:00.001-07:00

It is that time. It is time for TSP. The Texas Star Party is an annual star party under the great dark skies of the Davis Mountains near Fort Davis, TX. I came down on Friday, May 7 and took some great images. I've been stuck having clouds since Saturday, but am hoping the clouds go away for more viewing. This image is M81. The Spiral galaxy near the Great Dipper. Nearly 12 million light years away.

2009-10-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

2009-10-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

Fall is here and in West Texas I can feel the cool weather approaching and the change of frontal passage from warm to cold, and cold to warm. Fall in West Texas is my favorite because you get to experience Fall before it turns too cold. As a Kansas boy we went from summer to winter most years. It seemed as though Fall skipped us. I have not been able to do much observing do to family and business, but I hope to get out more.

Fort Davis, TX

2009-10-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

Before observing this evening, a big buck decided to venture near and watch what I was doing. I don't think he cared about me when he had females to look at. I snapped this photo and I thought it was a great picture.

Been a while

2009-10-22T20:27:00.003-07:00

Been a while since I did anything to my blog. Standby and I'll download some new info and pictures.

NGC 7337

2009-07-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

A galaxy in the constellation Pegasus. There are a series of smaller galaxies near this as seen closely in the picture.

M54, Globular

2009-07-20T21:50:00.001-07:00

A Globular Cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. About 87,000 light years from Earth, M54 is about 150 light years across.

Pinwheel Galaxy, M101

2009-07-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

A face-on spiral galaxy about 27 million light years from Earth. It is in the constellation Ursa Major (Big Dipper). It is nearly twice as big as our own Milky Way Galaxy.

Lagoon Nebula, M8

2009-07-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

A giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. Estimated to be 4,100 light years away.

Fort Davis, TX

2009-07-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

Leaving for Fort Davis on July 16 and I'm hoping for clear skies. I'm hoping to get some great images so I can post them on the blog. Haven't done much lately since I've been busy this summer doing things with the family. Been working like crazy with the Midland Planning and Zoning to work out some wordage on the lighting ordinance. Things are starting to go really well and hopefully I will be on the commission starting in August. I don't really know the advantage for this other than I get to voice my opinion on the type of outdoor lighting being installed on new construction.

Me

2009-06-03T09:49:00.001-07:00

Me. Need I say more? I've been doing astrophotography for about four years now. Long way from being a professional. My wife thinks I am a nerd, but I never considered myself so. My images are nothing compared to some of the great ameteur imagers out there. I have come a long way, however. I've been looking through telescopes for about 11 years now. My equipment includes a 12" LX200GPS from Meade. It is a go-to scope which uses GPS satellites to track images. I also have a small refractor riding on top of the main scope to serve as my autoguider, and finally a Meade DSI (Deep Sky Imager) CCD camera. When I do widefield images, I use the Canon EOS Xsi.

M64, Black Eye Galaxy

2009-06-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

M64, the Black Eye Galaxy has a dark band of absorbing dust in front of the bright nucleus giving the name "Black Eye." It's about 19 million light years away.

M51

2009-06-03T09:38:00.001-07:00

M51 or what is called the Whirlpool Galaxy. It's a spiral galaxy located about 31 million light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. You are seeing this object not as it exists today, but as it existed 31 million years ago.

2009-06-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here you can see the sky glow from a small town in western Kansas. This is Hays, KS. Around 30,000 people live there with smaller cities around it. Hays is the largest city in Western Kansas and as it gets bigger, so does the sky glow. Skies are sure beautiful in Kansas, however, there is no legislation reducing light pollution other than certain state parks. As you can see in the picture, the sky glow cuts out part of the dark sky. "The sky is on fire." This is the sort of things that are hurting astronomers.

2009-06-01T15:01:00.001-07:00

M65

2009-06-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

M22 in Sagittarius. Taken in Fort Davis, TX under brilliant dark skies.

Light Pollution

2009-06-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

I've been hitting the subject of light pollution really hard in the last two months and I'm suprised about all I have learned and tried to teach. Light pollution is the easiest form of pollution to get rid of. Just turn out a light and the problem is solved right? This is true if you want to live in darkness. I don't want to live in darkness, however I have installed interesting light fixtures on my house to set an example of what good lighting is. What is good lighting? Good lighting is lighting that doesn't spread out so my neighbors can see it. It is light that never goes into the sky to illuminate clouds and the bellies of birds. If we can all get educated on proper outdoor lighting, then the effects of light pollution won't be seen as much. There will still be a little sky glow from reflected light that hits the ground, but it won't be as bad as a light shining straight up to brighten the sky. Poorly designed lighting is the root cause of light pollution and the ignorance of "More is better." More is not better. This is a myth. If a full cut-off fixture was installed, then most of the light will be shining downward where it belongs and not to the side or up. You will find that installing a full cut-off fixture will provide downward light where it is needed and you can use a light bulb that uses less wattage because the full cut-off fixture allows all the light to shine on the subject. A full cut-off fixture will eliminate glare and wasteful light. Light that shines to the side is called "light trespass" and this affects our vision during the night. It also causes unwanted glare. We as Americans waste approximately one-billion dollars a year to illuminate clouds. Clouds should be dark at night and not glowing orange right? It's a win-win situation for everyone. Astronomers get their stars back, penny pinchers save money, and others eliminate wasteful carbon emissions.
Also, more lighting doesn't cut down on crime. For example, my neighbor has her lights running from dusk to dawn. However, the other night, her vehicle was broken in to. Did these lights help or not? The answer is no. Criminals love lights. They need lights to do their criminal work. Also, overlit areas create glare where a criminal can hide behind the glare. You won't see the criminal because you will be shielding your eyes from the glare. Ever tried driving down the road after work going west? It's hard on the eyes without a sun visor to get rid of the glare isn't it. You may not see the car in front of you if the sun is low on the horizon. Think about it.

Dark Skies

2009-06-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hello. I am Craig Patterson. I've always been interested in the natural world, especially when it comes to the sky. Our Milky Way galaxy stretches from horizon to horizon and galaxies and other stars are amazingly exciting to view on a clear dark evening. You could say it is therapy for me to look through my telescope and view these incredible works of art that nature has created.